Aftermath
by Vice Admiral Skellington
Summary: Ayano-chan has saved Kokona-chan's father from debt and called her over before school. Before Kokona-chan can confess to Taro-senpai, Ayano-chan finished her rival... However, a suiter that had planned to confess to Kokona on the same day Kokona had planned to confess to Taro-senpai is now hurt... How will he react when he figures out that Ayano-chan has killed her? Please Review.


**Warning: graphic content. If you cannot handle the thought of physical torture, then this is not the story for you. Please, if you hate even the sight of blood, I would ask that you leave now, and not delve into this too much. I would not want to be the one that (potentially, it's not guaranteed) scars you for life. However, if you decide to continue, I refuse to be held responsible for your afterward feelings. Please enjoy this fan work.**

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Thursday, Ayano-chan's house, one hour before school, week two.

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"You have a really nice place, Yan-chan," said Kokona-chan.

"Thanks," replied Ayano-chan, unsure of what else to say.

"Where are your parents?"

Ayano-chan hesitated for a moment, knowing the grim truth before saying, "overseas..."

"So... You take care of yourself? That must be hard."

"I manage..." Ayano-chan said. This was an understatement, considering what she was capable of.

"I wanna thank you again for helping my dad... I won't ask what you did. I'm sure it's something that you wouldn't want to talk about. But I hope you gave them what they deserved. Loan sharks are awful people..." Kokona-chan began. Ayano-chan got up, unsure if she really had to do what she was about to. Kokana-chan continued, "I did a bunch of stupid things while I was trying to make money, but my biggest regret was getting Saki involved. I never told her about my dad's debt, but I did tell her I needed money fast. She tried to help me out by selling her underwear to some-"

Ayano-chan grabbed Kokona-chan's shoulder. Kokona-chan turned around with a look of terror in her eyes, Ayano-chan a look of pure evil in hers, though she had not intended it.

"Wait, what are you doing?! That's not funny! Stop! Let me go! N... NO...!" Kokona-chan screamed.

Ayano-chan dragged Kokona-chan down to the basement by the wrists where she had laid down newspapers to catch the blood. She would make sure that the one who would steel her beautiful Senpai... Suffer... Throwing Kokona-chan into a corner, she looked away to grab a knife off the chair that had once hosted Musume-san where a jug of vinegar a salt shaker, and a pair of tweezers also rested... As Ayano-chan slowly turned back around, Kokona-chan saw what she really was.

She no longer saw the cute, friendly and kind girl that came to school every day. She no longer saw the love and cheer that was normally in her eyes. In the once-cheerful eyes of Ayano-chan, Kokona-chan only saw a monster; a horrific monster that would sit beside psychopathic maniacs like Edmund Kemper, Andrei Chikatilo, or Pedro López. As Ayano-chan held the knife with the blade millimetres from her own eye, Kokona-chan closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. It seemed like an eternity before it came, and the pain only lasted longer.

Ayano-chan pressed the knife into the side of Kokona-chan's right shoulder -the same one she had first grabbed- making sure it was deep enough to cause extreme pain, but not so deep to rupture the massive artery and bring about an uncontrollable amount of bleeding. As this happened, Kokona-chan let out a blood curdling scream that didn't even leave the basement due to the massive amount of soundproofing. Ayano-chan then dragged the knife down to the other girl's fragile wrist getting even more screams from her victim, at which point she sliced a pentagon into the back of her hand... She wasn't done there as she then sliced a line down each finger on Kokona-chan's hand from the pentagon.

Ayano-chan repeated this with Kokona-chan's left arm as Kokona-chan continued to yell out in pain, her screams turning to tortured crying seconds after each painful cut. After doing this, Ayano-chan removed her victim's clothes with the knife until only her underwear remained. In this time, Kokona-chan had calmed down to the point where she could speak- "why are you doing this to me?" she asked.

"No one gets my Senpai," Ayano-chan replied, a slight hoarseness to her voice. This only magnified exponentially with what she said next, "I love Senpai, yes I do... He's for me... Not.. For... You..."

"Wh- what are you talking about?!" Kokona cried, dark red blood dripping from the swollen cuts on her arms, hands and fingertips and out onto the newspaper. Ayano-chan did not answer her, and only drove the knife into her victim's right thigh with the same level of care as when she had cut Kokona-chan's arms. Kokona-chan continued to scream in pain, blood gushing from her wounds.

Ayano-chan finished the right leg, and grabbed Kokona-chan's face by the mouth. Pushing Kokona-chan's cheeks closer together, she brought her face closer. Ayano-chan stared into Kokona-chan's fear-ridden eyes, and stabbed her again in the left thigh. Again, she dragged the knife down the other girl's leg, still staring her in the eye, and spoke.

"You were going to take everything from me, even though I had saved your father from debt. I could see it in your eyes as we spoke that you still intended to ask Senpai out..."

"I-I didn't even know you liked him!" Kokona-chan cried. "If you had told me, I'd have backed off!"

"Don't lie to me!" Ayano-chan angrily barked through gritted teeth, forcing the knife further down Kokona-chan's leg faster. Kokona-chan yelped as the pain seared through her, blood still trickling from her many wounds. Ayano-chan let go of Kokona-chan's face, sliced up her foot, and then got an evil smile.

She placed the knife where she had originally started, and dragged the knife across Kokona's chest just between her bust and her collar bone all the way to her other shoulder, ending the cut when it met the other one. Placing the knife on her victim's waist, she slid the blade from one side of her waist to the other, and connected the cuts on her thighs to this cut.

Kokona-chan had almost passed out from the pain and was barely conscious. Her breathing was heavy, and her chest was heaving. Her eyes felt like they had anchors weighing them down, but she refused to close them for fear she might never wake up. This was a moot point as it was only a matter of time. It would have been wiser for her to pass out then and there. Ayano-chan however, was not done with her cutting. She made nine more cuts, one that went straight down the middle of Kokona's chest right down to the cut on her waist from the one at her collar bone, and eight more across her bust and lower chest that completed Ayano-chan's artwork. Despite the blood that spilled from the wounds, Kokona-chan had the cuts on her that looked like a skeleton.

It had only been fifteen minutes, but it had felt to Kokona-chan like an eternity and five centuries had passed. The wounds were throbbing and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She knew that she would die here. Somehow, she knew. She stopped trying to keep herself awake. She hadn't even noticed that she had been sprawled out on the floor in spread-eagle for the last nine cuts; the last thing she clearly remembered was her sitting against the corner of the wall as Ayano-chan had driven the knife through her leg...

" _This is the end for me_ ," thought Kokona-chan, " _I never should have trusted this girl... No- this monster... Saki... What about her? What about my father? Will... Will they even know...?_ "

And Ayano-chan still wasn't done... There was still salt, vinegar and tweezers on the chair...

Grabbing the salt, Ayano-chan kneeled next to her helpless victim. Setting the salt shaker on the floor, Ayano-chan peeled skin away at the cuts, and sliced a centimetre of it away, bloodying her fingers as she did so. She wiped this blood first on her skirt, but then, thought to wipe the rest on Kokona-chan's face... She did so with extreme prejudice, wiping it so that it looked like a skull had been painted in red on Kokona-chan's face. Kokona-chan felt lifeless, like her body was already dead and her soul was lingering for too long. With one final attempt, she tried to lift her head. She failed miserably, failing to even get a centimetre off the ground.

Ayano-chan finished removing the swollen skin surrounding the many cuts, and proceeded to hold the salt shaker over Kokona-chan. She shook the shaker and as the mineral fell into the wounds, Kokona-chan shifted slightly, and moaned as the excruciating pain tore through her; she had lost too much energy to show more pain than that... Her reaction to the vinegar was not much different.

Ayano-chan put her tools away, except for the knife. This, she held firmly in her hand. She walked up to Kokona-chan to get on all fours and stare her victim in the eye during her final moments. Weekly, Kokona-chan turned her head to look at Ayano-chan, the look of fear replaced with a look of sadness.

"Any last words?" Ayano-chan asked, not even caring that the phrase was an awful cliché.

"T-take care of him," Kokona-chan spoke, her voice barely more than air slipping from her lips. "Treat him nicely..."

Ayano-chan drove the sharp blade right through Kokona-chan's chest again and again and again and again. Kokona-chan coughed up blood that slipped out of the corner of her mouth and out onto the newspaper-ridden floor. Three times more, Ayano-chan stabbed her rival. This was merely overkill. Ayano-chan didn't care. She cared for nothing but her Taro-senpai.

No one would love her like she would. No one else deserved him. She would be his whether he liked it or not, whether others liked it or not.

In Ayano-chan's eyes, this was just beating out the bumps in the road, removing the obstacles. Maybe even cleansing the world...

At any rate, Kokona-chan was no more...

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Monday, adjacent school hallway, lunch hour, week four.

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Daichi-kun was a large boy for his age, tall and strong. He had taken notice that the school uniforms for boys were similar to that of an Admiral's uniform, and as a joking nod to this, he sometimes wore an Admiral's hat that had belonged to his father on the way to school. He usually spent his free time exercising, gaming or studying. He had a knack for several war games such as _World of Warships_ -in which, he enjoyed playing the stealthy Japanese destroyers,- _Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid_ and _Hitman: Absolution,_ and the time he had invested into these games in combination with exercise and studying left him with little time for social interactions. He was also supremely intelligent, holding great knowledge of naval combat of all eras, extreme martial arts, and didn't make a bad detective either. This, however, was not necessarily a good combination...

Daichi-kun could be very sadistic at times, going so far as to masturbate to the virtual bodies of women he had killed in video games. He had been rumoured to stalk one girl in particular, but no one could confirm either of these for sure, not even Info-chan. The killing he did in video games was to help suppress his blood lust and sociopathic behaviours: something his brother would argue that he did a great deal better at than Ayano-chan, had he actually known that her _rumoured_ habits were quite real. Daichi-kun also carried a switch blade in his pocket; very different from the dagger that Ayano-chan had on a seemingly regular basis; it was compact, hidden, and deadly...

He had planned to join the Navy before he saw the girl of his dreams: Kokona-chan. He had in fact been stalking her from a distance in some of his scarce free time, and it was all he could do to stop himself from sneaking into the girls changing room and steal her underwear.

Of course, Ayano-chan didn't know most of that, and frankly, didn't much care; the only people that she paid much real attention to were either female rivals, or Taro-senpai. However, on her way to the school library, she overheard a conversation between Daichi-kun and his brother that sparked her interest...

"I spent the entire weekend looking into this," Ayano-chan heard him say, "I think I know what happened to Kokona-chan."

"Are you sure?" Daichi-kun's brother asked. Ayano-chan peaked around the open doorframe to eavesdrop on the conversation; she didn't want information about the... Incident with Kokona-chan to go public.

"Positive."

"What happened?"

"I don't know how I didn't see this on Friday when she was announced missing... It's that Ayano girl. She killed her, I know it. It's all because of this crush Ayano-chan has on Taro-san! Kokona-chan went over to her place on Thursday, and has been missing ever since. Info-chan told me that over text, Ayano-chan had asked her to come over to her place, and I had seen them speaking on the roof earlier that week. I know that she killed Kokona-chan! There's no other explanation!"

"Oh, I know that girl! I've talked with her before, and she seems a lot like Fubuki from that anime _Kantai Collection_... So... What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to kill her..."

"N-no! You can't do that, Onii-sama! You'll-"

"I have to!" said Daichi-kun. He lowered and made his voice as hoarse as possible. "She took Kokona-senpai from me! I have to make her pay! There is no longer any light in my life... There is no happiness in my soul... She must die for what she has done..."

"But, you can't fight fire with fire! Call the police, get her arrested! There's got to be evidence somewhere!"

"No... Ayano-chan has to die... I will accept nothing less. She has killed before. She would and will kill again. I will stop this..."

"But... Remember your blood lust! It's like being an alcoholic!"

"I don't care... I'm going to... I don't know yet, but I guarantee you that it will be gruesome... I know what I'll do! I'll go over to her house with a big knife. Then I'm going to kill her mommy and daddy. Then I'm going to peel off their skin and make a funny hat. Then I'm going to strap her into a chair and beat her across the face with a piece of heavy mining equipment. Finally, I'm gonna take out my-"

"If they find a body, what do I tell people?!" Daichi-kun's brother interrupted.

"If anyone asks, tell them that I was with you at the computer for a half hour after everyone left. Leave my computer on to prove it... I'll deal with her on Thursday and have her meet me at the top of the school after our gaming meet. That way, we have no witnesses..."

"What the hell is 'we?' I've dealt with this long enough- I'll only cover you. I won't help you kill people."

"Fine, be that way... I'm going to class..."

"Onii-sama!"

"What?!"

"Promise me that you'll come back alive..."

"I can't control the future... But I plan to."

Ayano-chan panicked as she saw Daichi-kun get up and walk towards the door in long strides, his head down and his eyes on the floor. The sound of the footsteps seemed to echo in her head. Thinking quickly, backed up a few feet and made it look like she had just been walking through. Walking forward slowly and staring at the ground, Ayano feared that she would get caught eavesdropping.

Suddenly and without meaning to, her face collided with a muscly arm. It was Daichi-kun as he had been exiting the room. The two stumbled back a bit -Daichi-kun more off to the side- and looked at each other.

"Oh, hey Ayano-chan," said Daichi-kun, his voice suddenly normal.

"Hi there," said Ayano, "how are you?"

"I'm good. But you don't look too well... What's the matter?"

"W-well, Kokona-chan's disappearance has been... Nerve racking... I-"

"Hey," said Daichi-kun, putting a hand on Ayano-chan's shoulder and bending down to look at her levelly, a faint smile on his face, "don't be like that. Have faith. Would Kokona want you to be like this?"

"N... No... She wouldn't, I guess..."

"Her disappearance has us all worried... Hang in there, alright?"

"O-ok..."

And with that, Daichi-kun left as if nothing had ever happened. His brother stood in the doorframe in shock; that seemed a little too human for his brother... Almost... Normal...

On Wednesday afternoon, Ayano-chan received a note in her locker for someone to meet her on the school rooftop on Thursday after school. Signed: Anonymous, reason: "I need someone to talk to..."

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Thursday, school rooftop, an hour after school, week four.

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It was raining. The skies were dark, and the clouds upset, there was a light wind in the air as well. A shadowed figure could be seen leaning on the railing that overlooked the courtyard as a lamp shone behind him from the walls around the staircase that had brought him there. You could tell that his shoulders were wet, though he hadn't been there long. His hat was drooping slightly, and reflected what little light that the lamp produced. His face had been kept dry by his hat, though it was stained with tears as he smiled insanely. He almost chuckled at the thought of what he would soon do as a tear slipped from the corner of his eye...

He heard footsteps come up the stairs behind him, and he quickly sobered himself up, dropping the smile and wiping the tears away... He waited.

Ayano-chan walked up the stairs, wearing a raincoat as she had known the weather. She had only one flight left and she could see that the door was open at the top of the staircase. Whoever called her here was already up there. Ayano-chan reached the top of the stairs and closed the door behind her. She looked to her right. _No one was there_. She looked straight ahead. _She couldn't see more than five meters ahead of her_. She looked to her left. _Bingo_... She saw the dark figure that had called her here.

"Wonderful weather, isn't it?" The figure said. "No more of that sunshine/rainbow/flowers crap..."

"It's certainly different," Ayano-chan replied. "I wouldn't say it's wonderful..."

"One of those people, huh? I always felt like rain had a different meaning than just water condensing. I feel like it's the tears of those who are no longer here, crying because of their regrets..."

"That's deep."

"It's intended to be... But not in the way you might expect," the figure said. After saying this, he turned around. The light that had once reflected off his hat now reflected off of his face, revealing himself to Ayano-chan. _It was Daichi-kun_...

"I didn't expect you to be here," Ayano-chan said, walking towards him. This was a lie; she had known it would be him since Monday. She stood to his left and leaned against the raining like he had just been doing. Daichi-kun was a head-and-a-half taller than Ayano-chan, but this didn't scare her. All she had to do was keep her guard up, and she was safe. She was more skilled than he was, regardless of whatever he thought.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Ayano-chan asked.

"Uh... Yeah," replied Daichi-kun. "It's about Kokona-senpai..."

"Sh-she was your senpai?" Ayano-chan asked.

"Y-yes... I never spoke to her, but I would always hear her from across the room... She was always so chipper, funny, and positive... Now, she's gone, and I don't know how to cope with it..."

"She wouldn't want you this way, would she?" Ayano-chan simply reiterated what Daichi-kun had told her earlier.

"No, that doesn't work... I was never friends with her... You were... Did she ever talk about me?"

"Not that I knew of, no. Our friendship was short-lived..."

"I see... There is another reason I called you here," Daichi-kun said, drawing the switchblade from his pocket and springing the blade... Ayano-chan heard this...

"What is it?" Ayano-chan asked, cautiously.

"This..." Daichi-kun lifted the blade above his head and planted his eyes on Ayano-chan's head. He swung the switchblade down at her with all of his might. Seeing this from the corner of her eye, Ayano-chan acted quickly and caught Daichi-kun's wrist. She slowly turned her head to look him in the eye...

"Do you honestly think I'm that stupid?" she asked menacingly.

"I was hoping so," Daichi-kun replied, "but on the bright side, this makes things more interesting, doesn't it?"

Ayano-chan slipped the dagger that she had brought with her from her coat with her free hand. She flipped the dagger so that she held it in a reverse grip and pushed Daichi-kun against the wall. The wind picked up as a lightning bolt lit up the area for a split second, a thunderclap nearly deafened the two, and the rain began to pour down as if someone was pouring buckets on them as Ayano-chan tried the force the blade into her opponent's throat while keeping his arm at bay. He was strong, but so was she, and she could hold her own.

"You have taken everything I cared about from me!" Daichi-kun yelled his voice once again raspy. "I will see your blood on this knife if it kills me!"

"So be it," replied Ayano-chan.

Pushing off from the wall, Daichi-kun pushed the girl onto the ground and continued trying to finish her. Losing his hat, he pressed her knife to the ground that was now riddled with puddles. Ayano-chan felt her back getting soaked even with the raincoat she was wearing, but that did not distract her from keeping the switchblade away from her. She could feel the cooled air from the metal blade just above her skin before she forced her other arm forward, sending Daichi-kun onto his back. Ayano-chan climbed up to sit on top of him and with both hands, plunged her knife towards Daichi-kun. Grabbing her wrists, Daichi-kun held a defensive. It was like Ayano-chan was using her entire weight and he was losing ground fast. Remembering something he had read in a war book, Daichi-kun thrusted Ayano-chan's hands off to the side where she dropped the knife, though within arm's reach. Daichi-kun practically pounced onto Ayano-chan where he began to strangle her with his bare hands, even though he still had his switchblade.

Ayano-chan didn't lose her cool, however. She punched Daichi-kun square in the face, making him let go of her. She then grabbed the knife and slashed at him before he could get back at her. The knife sliced clean through his cheeks, blood coating the dagger as it sliced through the flesh, and it cast trickles of blood onto the ground. Daichi-kun got up and stepped back, yelling and holding his face in pain. He leaned against the nearest wall and Ayano-chan recovered. The pain still seared through the side of his mouth, but Daichi-kun removed his hands. The blood from his face stained his hands and he looked at it, not only this, but he tasted it as well. He found this humorous... He began to laugh manically, making Ayano-chan feel very uneasy. Daichi-kun looked up slowly and began to smile. Due to the new cut, the smile went all the way up past his cheek bones -almost to his eyes,- and blood gushed all over his bared white teeth. His laughing became that of something from a fevered dream; raspy, dry, and maniacal. As he laughed, lightning lit up the place again with a high thunderclap and made the boy look more than menacing, blood spilling down his face, gushing all over his teeth and spitting from his mouth. He continued to laugh for a few seconds before he spoke.

"Aren't you scared, Ayano-chan?" He asked, his voice distorted from the pooling blood. No answer came from the girl, and she backed up about a step. "Well, that's just fine..."

Daichi-kun charged at Ayano-chan, switchblade raised, a smile plastered to his face and a deep, throaty laugh coming from him. Ayano-chan was hardly intimidated. She dodged the attack causing Daichi-kun to stumble forward. Ayano-chan grabbed the back of his school uniform, and shoved him against the railing. Another bolt of lightning brought light for a split second shortly followed by the deepest thunderclap yet. Ayano-chan took the opportunity to pin Daichi-kun to the railing and force her dagger down on him, but he was more ready than she thought. He threw his switchblade aside, grabbed her hand as it flew towards him and flipped the dagger back on her, whipping around to place her in his position. Ayano-chan tried to keep the dagger at bay, but the force that Daichi-kun was applying was too much, and the dagger made contact with the skin on her upper cheek.

Ayano-chan hadn't actually known the pain that a knife could cause if it cut deep enough. As the dagger slid through her flesh, the pain it caused was excruciating. She had to ignore it though, even though blood was seeping out onto the blade.

Daichi-kun continued to bear down on Ayano-chan. He released pressure on the dagger allowing her to push it back up, only to start pushing back down, this time aiming for her chest, the evil smile still apparent on his face. Ayano-chan kept her cool and thought of how to get out. The sharpened blade was centimetres away from sliding through her when she remembered how he had gotten out of the same situation only moments before. She shoved the dagger off to the side forcing Daichi-kun to loose balance. Ayano-chan quickly moved out from under him as he slammed into the railing. Now she had the advantage...

Daichi-kun tried to recover, and swung the dagger at Ayano-chan with a reverse grip. Ayano-chan ducked as the dagger sailed over her head, taking with it a few strands of hair. Daichi-kun hadn't planned to miss, and the inertia of his arm caused him to be balanced precariously over the railing. Ayano-chan took this opportunity to grab his ankles and send him over the railing. Daichi-kun had not expected this, and fell over the railing and down to the ground of the school courtyard. A flash of lightning and a distant thunderclap marked the end of the storm, and the rain began to lighten up.

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Friday, school entrance, beginning of school, week four.

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Ayano-chan arrived at school a little late that day; she had spent half the night trying to bandage up the wound on the face. When she checked her phone, it was around 8:14 in the morning, and everyone else had already arrived. She still had another 16 minutes before classes began, and by this point, she had successfully eliminated her rival. Her Senpai was safe, but she still didn't have the courage to meet him under the confession tree...

Suddenly, a blood curdling scream was heard throughout the school grounds. Even people walking by on the sidewalks stopped to turn and look. Everyone in the lobby looked around for the source of the noise. Ayano-chan looked up as well, but with less curiosity. _She knew what was in the courtyard_...

"What was that?!" someone asked.

"I don't know. It sounded like it came from the courtyard."

Everyone rushed to the courtyard to find the source of the noise. The lobby cleared out quickly, and even Ayano-chan rushed her walking. She dropped her book bag at her locker, neglecting to put it in, and followed everyone else. There was already a crowd in the courtyard gathered around some sort of event. When Ayano-chan saw it, she smirked... _It was just how she left it_... She didn't even notice that she bumped into Taro-senpai; she was too engrossed in what she saw.

Everyone stared, murmuring silently at the sight of Daichi-kun's body lying face up on the ground surrounded by blood. His hat laid only a few feet away, his sprung switchblade a foot from his hand. A smile carved into his face, his still open eyes the size of needle heads that stared up at the clouds, and his uniform damp. Although it was a horrifying sight to see. Ayano-chan smirked at her handiwork until she heard a voice as clear as day...

"What's going on?" called the voice. It was Daichi-kun's younger brother. Everyone turned to look at him, and he got very nervous. "What happened?"

"Susumu-san," began Midori-chan, "why don't we go to class?"

"You and I don't go to the same class, Midori-senpai. What are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" I just-"

"What is it?"

"Susumu-san, you really don't want to see this!" Saki interjected. "You need to-"

Susumu-san pushed past the two regardless of the warnings. It was a decision that he would regret... Pushing and shoving his way through the crowd, he saw his older brother's body lying there, quiet and lifeless...

"Onii-sama..." he said, his voice shuddering. "O-Onii-sama!" Susumu-san walked slowly to his brother feeling his knees grow weaker with each step. Tears welled up in his eyes. As he reached his brother's feet, he fell to his knees and collapsed onto his brother's cold, damp body, finally letting his tears loose. "Onii-sama!" he cried.

Susumu-san wrapped his arms around his brother's neck, lifting his head up as he did so. As he sobbed into his brother's shoulder, he unknowingly directed his brother's empty gaze towards Ayano-chan. Ayano-chan stared directly at the face as if to say she wasn't afraid of it, daunting though it was. Another student stepped forward, but not towards Daichi-kun and Susumu-san... She had noticed something in Daichi-kun's hat. She picked it up, and taped to the inside of it was a note. Removing the note, she walked over to Susumu-san and handed it to him. Accepting the note and fearing the worst, he sat up to unfold and read the piece of paper...

"What does it say?" Midori-chan asked. Susumu-san did not answer.

By the time a teacher had arrived, Susumu-san had his hand over his mouth, and tears were streaming down his cheeks, though not a noise passed his lips. He had read it thrice over in pure dis-belief and felt like such a gullible fool. The teacher asked for the note. Susumu-san handed her the note, and continued to sit on the ground, slightly rocking back and forth with his hand still covering his mouth, and his now free clenched fist tucked under his elbow

"Miss Aishi," the teacher called after having read the note.

"Yes, Miss Kohaku?" Ayano-chan replied, taking a step forward.

"Get the guidance councillor, please."

"Right away, Miss Kohaku."

Ayano-chan bowed slightly and ran off to find the guidance councillor. As she was out of sight, she slowed to a walk and couldn't help but smile at her own success...


End file.
